Pics: Accidents in India

This is a discussion on Pics: Accidents in India within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; Originally Posted by zibby
i agree with you canonball, people pay 20 lac for a car which is nearly 10 ...

i agree with you canonball, people pay 20 lac for a car which is nearly 10 yrs old. instead they can buy a outlander, CRV or any other softroader.

Yes,I too will agree with preceding two posts,most of the people I know buy the pajero because earlier it was the preffered vehicle by the 'superstars/VIPs'. However,things have moved on and we do have better vehicles in that category but the aura associated with the pajero has refused to die down and hence even after being dated beyond doubts its still selling in decent numbers for a Rs.22+ lakh vehicle. The other factor is the size, some of us tend to look for maximum sheet-metal for the price we are paying and so choose these old school SUVs over the softroaders even when off-roading is at the last of their lists. I know of atleast some people who went for an endeavour over the captiva for its sheer size and that 'amreekan' image, although its essentially a mini-truck based on Ford Everest which is popular in Thai market rather than America.

White Scorpio crash is horrible. And it is not surprising to see some BHPians feeling good in a way about it. Scorpios have earned notoriety in rash driving like no other car. I used to be a big fan of it a few years back and would often get into arguement with a close friend who is a diehard Scorpio hater. He says you meet the dirtiest people in Scorpio---borrowing a Honda Cub ad line from 70s which said you meet the nicest people on a Honda. He says all the Scorpio drivers are not scoundrels but almost all the scoundrels are seen in a Scorpio. Not in Innova, not in Safari and not in any sedan. I disagreed with him but over the years my observation of this particular vehicle confirmed my friends views. I fail to understand why indeed these guys are always in a tearing hurry. You see Mercs, BMWs, Skodas, Accords, Camrys on highways which can eat a Scorp for breakfast but they drive sanely at 100-120 kph. But Scorps? They just put a brick on the throttle and go to chatter on their cellphones while the Scorp is doing its max speed of 160-170 or whatever it can. Nine out of ten guys are politico types who have no regard for others lives. A big party flag fluttering on the bonnet and they go flying. They are also the ones who believe that a Scorp can beat a Ferrari. It's better if they drive at 170 kph into a 40-tonner than into a scooterist, if they have to drive into one of the two.

He says all the Scorpio drivers are not scoundrels but almost all the scoundrels are seen in a Scorpio. Not in Innova, not in Safari and not in any sedan. I disagreed with him but over the years my observation of this particular vehicle confirmed my friends views. I fail to understand why indeed these guys are always in a tearing hurry. You see Mercs, BMWs, Skodas, Accords, Camrys on highways which can eat a Scorp for breakfast but they drive sanely at 100-120 kph. But Scorps? They just put a brick on the throttle and go to chatter on their cellphones while the Scorp is doing its max speed of 160-170 or whatever it can. Nine out of ten guys are politico types who have no regard for others lives. A big party flag fluttering on the bonnet and they go flying. They are also the ones who believe that a Scorp can beat a Ferrari. It's better if they drive at 170 kph into a 40-tonner than into a scooterist, if they have to drive into one of the two.

Wow, Its like I have written those lines, that is exactly what I feel. First early scorpios were notorious for the way they handled at high speeds and yeah there is something with the scorpio that makes some of the drivers really bad.
A friend of mine drives really well when he is behind the wheel of his santro.
But as soon as he switched to scorpio am quite afraid to travel with him, and he has developed a habit scaring those autos/hatchbacks/2 wheelers on the road ever since he started driving the scorp.

I also don't know why it is, but whenever I hear a diesel clatter from an engine working very hard, trying to overtake my car, also honking and cutting lanes as if its some Mr.Hamilton behind the wheel, that vehicle has to be the scorpio. Earlier I thought it to be strange, that many of the scorpio drivers are rash & people who show zilch care for safety of both themselves and the others but now I am too used to seeing such Scorpions (whoops! Scorpio owners that is) everyday, and now I usually let them pass unless they end up self destructing and also destructing me as well, trying to 'outdrag' my sedan.

pgsagar, I think you're confusing the Scorpio with the Tata Sumo! Far more likely to be badly driven than a Scorpio, in my experience.

Sumo's dont go as fast as scorpio's
and yes I agree that Scorpio's and to some extent innova's too are the most rashly driven vehicles.
a major reason is they being preferred by taxi fleet owners and being driven by stupid drivers.

Completely agree with the comments on Scorpio. I don't know what possesses the drivers of the car when they start the scorpio. On the 15th i was driving back from Kerala to Chennai, and on this barely enough width State highway from Bhavani to Thoppur, while i was patiently following a truck on an uphill stretch, there was this scorp that wanted to overtake me and the truck, disregarding the continous oncoming traffic. He then quite daringly took the right lane, couldn't overtake, had to cut back left, where I was driving, had to apply sudden brakes, get back in line. Then the same action resumed, he did manage to pass and in another 500 meters i see him parked on the left and having Chai. I thought thank god no more trouble. Then again in another 5 minutes he is back at it. I just let him pass and drove comfortably ever after!

Scorpios have earned notoriety in rash driving like no other car. He says you meet the dirtiest people in Scorpio---borrowing a Honda Cub ad line from 70s which said you meet the nicest people on a Honda. He says all the Scorpio drivers are not scoundrels but almost all the scoundrels are seen in a Scorpio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

Wow, Its like I have written those lines, that is exactly what I feel. First early scorpios were notorious for the way they handled at high speeds and yeah there is something with the scorpio that makes some of the drivers really bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Sumo's dont go as fast as scorpio's
and yes I agree that Scorpio's and to some extent innova's too are the most rashly driven vehicles.
a major reason is they being preferred by taxi fleet owners and being driven by stupid drivers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Completely agree with the comments on Scorpio. I don't know what possesses the drivers of the car when they start the scorpio. On the 15th i was driving back from Kerala to Chennai, and on this barely enough width State highway from Bhavani to....

WHOA, i drive a scorpio. so am I in the list of the dirtiest & most stupid humans?

well, infact to be honest, even i agree to all this to quite an extent. maybe this rash driving is because of the high seating position which gives you excellent visibility & the instant throttle response which can be used to scare the so-called innocent cabbies/autos & sedans.

This accident happend on my way from Blor to Goa in early morning hours of 10th April. Volvo was running down the Shirsi ghat and a TATA 407 pickup climbing the ghat section. Accident occured on a curve where in both side of road was dug by PWD.

Finally the driver managed to fix cardboard @ Karwar and reached Goa only by 1.30PM , thats after 4 hrs of delay !

pgsagar, I think you're confusing the Scorpio with the Tata Sumo! Far more likely to be badly driven than a Scorpio, in my experience.

Yes, Sumos were once driven the same way as Scorps are these days. That was in mid to late 90s when Sumos were all the rage. Now I hardly see 'em on roads.

Raj, good that you have taken it in the right spirit without gettign down to a show-down. I have a close friend, too, who drives a Scorp and he never exceeds 100 kph. He also owns a Palio and says he feels safer in Palio because of low C of G. I agree with him. I have driven his Scorp several times but I never had this urge to step on it. In fact I feel unsafe, too, from all that rolling, pitching and yawing. Ok, may be because I drive a Lancer which is a low slung car. You said Scorp drivers drive rashly because of its high seating and instant pick-up. May be, but then Innova and new Safari also have these traits but they are not driven as bad. I think the main raeson is all these politician types who have given this vehicle the bad name it has today.

YC.Baleno and Vineeth, I can fill countless pages with such horrible experiences involving Scorps that I witness on a daily basis, as I drive 70 Kms everyday on higway and not a day passes when I do not witness some unpleasant incident. We have seen that Maruti has started driving schools all over the country for its cars. I think the need of the hour is that it should be M&M who should be starting such a school immediately for Scorp drivers.

You said Scorp drivers drive rashly because of its high seating and instant pick-up. May be, but then Innova and new Safari also have these traits but they are not driven as bad. I think the main raeson is all these politician types who have given this vehicle the bad name it has today.

I think the need of the hour is that it should be M&M who should be starting such a school immediately for Scorp drivers.

hey sagar, the innova does not have a high seating as compared to the scorpio & safari. infact, the innova does not have the good visibilty of these SUVs. in the scorpio & safari, you can see both the corners of the bumper very clearly, this is not the case with the innova. so bullying other cars becomes easy with these SUVs.
other reason could be that these SUVs have a very tough body/bumper. even thats not the case with the innova.
the scorpio with its compact dimensions, great visibility and good low end pick up may provoke a sedate driver to drive faster & thus rashly.

however, i think that starting a school is realy taking it a bit too far. if not, then why only M&M? i have seen tons of OHC/swift/lancers driven rashly.

i feel the root cause is the driver, not the vehicle. yes, to some extent, vehicles which offer a sporty performance may provoke the driver.

i drive my scorpio pretty fast compared to my other vehicles, true. infact, on the same road & similar traffic conditions, i drive my innova & safari much slower! the reasons could be as stated above. but i dont feel i drive rashly as i dont bully others. i dont cut lanes without checking my RVMs or giving indicators. i make it a point that other road users are not harrased because of me. i give way to even smaller cars like 800. and there are many scorpio drivers like me on the road. so i dont feel that MOSTLY scorpios are rashly driven. at the same time, i dont give way to idiots who overtake me from the left and then try to cut into my lane even when there is no space. i dont give way to those who try to bully me to get into my lane. so it depends......